Massimo Giovanelli's Italy v France preview

The British

& Irish Lions

Tour to New Zealand 2017

Massimo Giovanelli's Italy v France preview

21 March 2003 12:57pm

John Kirwan has brought back Diego Dominguez because he knows the French very well because he plays for Stade Francais - Kirwan does not want to risk Ramiro Pez even if he is playing well, especially in this game.

Mauro Bergamasco, who is not playing, is very important for the team but Nicola Mazzucato did very well for us at Twickenham - he was very aggressive even if he was not quite as strong as Mauro.

It is interesting that Kirwan has called up Andrea Lo Cicero who has been in dispute with Toulouse. I am happy for the player but I think the federation must be more clear in cases like this.

The French are a funny team. One day they play badly but on another they can be at their top level. But they have missed the train as far as this year's championship is concerned and if Italy can put them under pressure then it could be a very interesting game.

It is symptomatic of a team with problems, symptomatic of a malaise and France have not yet found their balance. They can definitely be put in difficulty if we put them under pressure.

Italy are developing - they played 40 very good minutes against England when they did not let the English have the ball.

Now we must learn how to take advantage of the possession - we need to find the killer instinct. We are still too slow sometimes and we need to do more work on our line-outs.